THE GAME OF TRUTH
by StrawberrySab
Summary: Set after "Net Worth".
1. Chapter 1

She lied in bed awaken, not able to get herself to sleep. His words kept on echoing in her mind. "You made the right choice". She couldn't believe he lied. She imagined that moment so many times and the outcome wasn't exactly supposed to be like that.

What happened to his heart spilled? Where was his passionate message? Why did he lie? She couldn't help but think that maybe he might be really in love with Tammy and over her. Bad timing. Once again they couldn't find their way to each other.

She cried silently and finally fell asleep.

* * *

He couldn't stop thinking about it. He always assumed she didn't call him back 'cause she just didn't care. He should have listened to Wade's advice, tell her in person, but he didn't, and now it was too late. He finally settled, got over her, and no way he was going to ruin everything. Yet there he was, his mind could not think about anything else.

Why couldn't he get it out of his mind?

He finally fell asleep, wondering why, months later, she came to him asking about something he tried so hard to forget. 

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Alicia had spent the last week closing herself in a comfortable distance, avoiding any conversation not strictly related to work. So when Will casually asked how she was doing, she simply said "Never better", pretending she was really fine. Will stared at her for a moment, a look of concern, wondering what was going on between them.

He was not sure if it was a good idea to bring up the subject: he was afraid that trying to push things would just make her run, again. On the other hand, she was the one coming to him, asking about the voicemail, she made the first move, although he was still not sure about her reasons.

It had taken months for them to feel again comfortable with each other, to work well together, just to find themselves in that weird place, once again.

* * *

It was late afternoon when her phone rang. "We got a case, I want you on this, come as soon as you can, it's important." It was Will. She headed to his office and saw he was talking to an Asian man. He waved her in, introduced her to their new client and briefly updated her on the case. They arranged then to meet at dinner the counterpart to evaluate a possible agreement. It looked like a hard case, the interest of the Chinese government could only mean problems and big money involved. And Will knew quite well that they needed to win to avoid bankruptcy.

Alicia wasn't really thrilled and could have done well without the dinner, but it was work so she simply had to do it. She was turning to head back to her office when Will stopped her. "Is everything ok?" he asked. He noticed that lately she was distant and knew that it had to do with their conversation about the voicemail, but he still couldn't figure out what was going through her mind. But whenever he tried to get on the topic, she simply changed argument or said she was fine. And so she did again. "Sure. I go back to my office." "Ok". And she put again that uncomfortable wall of silence between them.

* * *

When Alicia reached the restaurant, Will was outside waiting for her. "They're already in." he said. And they both headed to their table, where two lawyers of the counterpart, Mr. Wang and Mr. Lài, where waiting for them.

"One million to drop the case" started Mr. Wang. Alicia and Will looked at each other, both thinking they had misheard. It was huge money, way more than needed to save the company, way too high for an agreement. It could mean only one thing: the counterpart was willing to do everything to win the case. Will looked at the two lawyers, then looked back at Alicia and slightly shaked his head. "I'm sorry, but we cannot accept." He couldn't believe that he was turning down all that money, but his client's rights came ahead of his own needs. Alicia raised a smile, proud, it was the right choice.

"You are making a mistake, Mr. Gardner. You have no idea what a big mistake you are making." The tone of Mr. Lài's voice was angry and decisive. "We'll see in court. And you're gonna lose. 'Cause you're going against something stronger than you, Mr. Gardner. This is your last chance. Accept our proposal."

It sounded like a threat and Will didn't like when lawyer acted like that. "I'm sorry, our position remains the same. We can't accept."

"See you in court, then. Have a nice evening…" Both Mr. Lài and Mr. Wang stood up, leaving Alicia and Will alone. Alicia looked at Will, she was a little bit worried. "We made the right choice, didn't we?". He looked back at her. "Client comes first. So, yes, we made the right choice.".

They remained silent for a while, neither of them knowing what to say, neither of them knowing what the other one was ready or willing to say. Will was the first to break the silence. "So, how is Peter's campaign going?". She was caught a little by surprise. "Well, for what I know. I try to stay out of it as much as possible. I had a media overdose during the last two years, I'm in need of peace." He smiled at her, nodding slightly. "I should go." She wanted to stop him before it was getting too personal and, most of all, she didn't want him to bring up the voicemail again, just to lie and reject her once again. "Ok". They looked in each other's eyes for a moment which seemed to last forever, until Alicia stood up. Will followed her outside of the restaurant and they both headed to their cars.

They had just turned around the corner when an Asian man appeared in front of them. "Drop the case". Alicia stepped back, scared, instinctively taking Will's arm, trying to get him to run away. But he stood still, as the man came close and packed a punch in his stomach and in his face. Alicia shouted. "Drop the case" he said again before running away and disappearing in the dark. Will was bleeding. "Don't move, I get an ambulance, don't move".

Tbc….


	3. Chapter 3

The paramedics brought Will in the ER. He was fine, probably just a broken or cracked rib. Alicia had to wait outside as Will was brought in the near exam room for an X-Ray. It was late, she had to call home and tell Peter she was fine. Not that he would worry, since he knew she was at a business dinner. So she took her phone and dialed his number. Upon hearing she was at the hospital, Peter wanted to reach her. "No, really, you don't have to come, I'm fine. It's… Will." Silence. Peter's reaction to his name was always the same. He still couldn't trust neither Will or his wife when she was around him. "He just got injured" she said, trying not to look to worried, but she was, and she was still scared for what happened only half an hour ago. She promised she'd be home soon and hang up the phone. Will was still nowhere in sight, so all she could do was to sit and wait.

* * *

The door of exam room opened and a nurse came out. She saw Will sitting on the bed, his back on her. He was bare-chested, with a bandage around his chest. "Will?" she said softly. He turned to face her, still sitting. "Hey…" he casually said and smiled at her, like nothing ever happened. She stepped in and asked " You ok?". She glanced down, slightly embarrassed at having him half-naked in front of her. "Just a couple of cracked ribs. It could be worse." They smiled at each other, and Alicia closed her eyes and sighed with relief. She sat close to him, and they both sat there, silent, lost in thought.

"We should drop the case" Alicia said quietly, trying to hide her concern. "No way" Will was resolute. "Look what they did to you!" she was puzzled. "In case you didn't notice, this was just a warning, they will use every possible mean to stop us!" she was getting upset. She was afraid. Afraid of what they could do. Afraid of what they could do to him. "It's our job, it's our client, we can't drop the case, we can't yield to intimidations!" They wouldn't be getting nowhere. Although she understood his point of view, she knew what that could mean.

The silence fell again between them.

"I don't want anything bad happens to you" she said quietly, glancing down. "Nothing bad is gonna happen to anyone. You got my word." Will replied with a soft tone. Alicia looked at him than looked away again. "Good" she said. "Good" he said.

"It's late, you should go home". Will knew that Peter was probably worrying for her.

"Yeah, we both should…" Alicia knew that Tammy was probably worrying for him.

"Can I drive you a home or call you a taxi?" she asked. "I'll get a taxi. You go home now, get some rest, ok?" He knew she had been there waiting for hours, she was probably exhausted. She nodded. "I help you put your shirt back on". She went behind him and slowly started to help him.

"I lied…"

She stood there for a moment, pondering his words. "Here we are" she thought, the moment of truth…

"I know it". Will turned to face her. She knew it. And she didn't say anything… "How do you… why…." He was caught off guard.

"It doesn't matter how I know. I just… know it." She turned around the bed and stood in front of him. Her heart was thudding, as she was looking in his eyes. "So… what did you say?" she asked, not sure if he was finally going to tell her.

He gazed down, searching for the right words, than looked back at her. "I love you, Alicia. I always did. And if you still want a plan, I'm ready to make it with you."

She didn't move. She stood there, still looking at him, her mouth slightly open in surprise. One thing was trying to imagine it, a different story was to have him here actually say those words. One year. One year lost. One year apart. One year of misunderstandings, distance, coldness. For what? For a stupid message she didn't got. For their stubbornness in not trying to make things clear in person. All these thoughts were flowing through their minds, finally realizing that they both wanted the same thing.

She got closer to him as he raised his hands and lightly touched her cheeks. They shared a first shy attempted kiss, than looked in each other's eyes, searching for a sort of acknowledgement that it was really happening. Will wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. They kissed again, this time a passionate kiss.

What they couldn't know was that someone was right outside the door, looking at them…

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: No Will in this chapter. This is more a set up for next chapter.**

She entered the doorstep very silently, not wanting to wake up Peter or the kids. So many thoughts running through her mind and she was just too tired to talk about that evening. "Hi". She jumped, taken by surprise. Peter was sitting on the couch, reading a book. "Hi, you scared me." "You ok"? He laid down the book and turned to face her with a concerned look. "Yes, just tired. It's been a hard night. I'm going to sleep." She started to head to her bedroom when Peter went on. "And how's Will?" She stopped, her heart starting to throb. Without looking back, she said quietly "A couple of cracked ribs, he will be fine…. Goodnight." Peter was still looking at her, he stood still for a moment, pondering if he should ask for more, but he wasn't really in the mood for initiating a fight, and he knew that talking about Will would inevitably always end up there. "Goodnight", he said instead, before returning to his book.

* * *

She was late for work. It took her longer than expected to dress up that morning and she felt nervous. She had a strange feeling of excitement and fear, as if the storm was soon going to replace the late quietness. What would happen now? What would she be doing? Will, her marriage, the kids, so many thoughts, she couldn't just think straight, with all the events of the previous night still so fresh in her mind. "You're going to be late" Peter was standing on the doorstep watching her getting ready. "Yeah, I know, I'm leaving now". She was wondering if Peter could tell she was so nervous and the real reasons. "I gotta go. See you tonight." A quick kiss and she was out of the door.

* * *

She was heading to her office when Kalinda joined on her way with a worried look. "Hey, you okay? I heard about yesterday's night!" Alicia loved having her as friend, Kalinda just listened, gave precious advices and never judged her. "Oh, I'm fine, I guess I was just a little scared, but I'm fine. Did you see Will? Is he in the office?" She just needed to know, they needed to talk, she needed to talk to someone about what happened. "No, he took a day off. I heard he got injured. Is that bad?" It was bad he wasn't in, that was sure. "Two cracked ribs… and we kissed". That was it. She said it. In a soft voice, she let it slip away. "You what?" Kalinda was not sure she heard well, Alicia-that's-not-like-me finally made a step? She couldn't hide a smile. "Don't pretend you didn't understand" she rolled her eyes and smiled. "Girls' night out?" Kalinda proposed. It was so clear Alicia wanted to talk about it so badly and they hadn't a good talk together in ages. "Yep! Now can we do some work?" They both laughed as Kalinda started to gave her news on the Pickett/Romero case.

* * *

Alicia was tired. It had been a long day and was happy she got at least the time to get home and get a shower before meeting Kalinda. She headed to her door when her attention was caught by a small envelope on the doormat. There was a business card, it said Mr. Lai. She shivered, remembering the night before. She opened the envelope and found a CD inside. What the hell did he want from her? What could he possibly want to show her? She headed inside home, not stopping to watch the business card and the CD. "I'm home!" She called for the kids but got no reply. Instead Peter appeared from the kitchen. "They are out, having dinner at Nisa's, her mother called this afternoon. Can we talk?" She was relieved the kids where out, so she could watch the damn CD and have her night out. "Actually, not now, I got some work to do and then I'm going out with Kalinda. Can we talk later?" She was nervous and curious. "Is is later today or later someday?" Peter was a little irritated, she seemed to avoid discussing lately and wasn't happy at all. All his efforts to rebuild his marriage seemed to lead to nothing. But she was already heading to Zach's pc. "Later today, I promise." she said from there. There was a video file. She hesitated before clicking on it, worrying about what she could possibly see, but sure at the same time that nothing would be worse than watching the images of Peter having sex with that blonde hooker. She stood there for a moment, not really sure of what she was watching. It seemed something already seen, yet different. The video of Peter with the hooker, she thought at first sight, why did they want her to see it? She had already been through that and although it would still hurt. But there was something different. It took her a while to realize that it wasn't the same woman. It wasn't the same woman at all, actually she wasn't even blonde. She froze. She stopped the video, took the CD off and put it back in the envelope. She went back in the living room, Peter was sitting there reading some papers. She stood there for a moment, looking at him, not knowing what to do, what to say. Peter turned to face her and before meeting her eyes he was saying "Ready to talk now?", then he noticed her look. Her eyes were wet, he could say she was on the verge of crying. He stood up and started to approach her but she took a step back. "Get out of here. Now." He stopped, wondering what was going on. "What?". "Get out of here. Now!" She was crying now and he couldn't realize why she was so upset. "How could you do it? How could you do it!" What did he do it? He didn't know. "Alicia, what are you talking about?" he was lost. "Kalinda!" She couldn't know, he thought. Yet, she knew. He had no idea how to handle this. He was unprepared for something like that. Alicia couldn't breath, she needed some fresh air, she felt like she was about to faint. She rushed out of the door, then turned around in tears "I want you out of here before I'm back. I want you out of my life!" and left.

tbc...


End file.
